30-year old lefty swinging 1B Adam LaRoche and 28-year old lefty swinging 2B Kelly Johnson have been impressive this year for the D-Backs. The Diamondbacks signed them late in the off-season at bargain prices and they have both been huge bargains. LaRoche has played in 148 games for the D-Backs so far this year and he is 142 of 549 (.259 avg, .779 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 24 homers and a new career high 97 RBIs. He’s hoping to get at least 3 more RBIs before the years ends. Kelly Johnson has played in 151 games for the D-Backs this year and he was 162 of 574 (.282 avg, .866 OPS) with 92 runs scored, 26 homers, 70 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Johnson has set new career highs in hits, runs scored, homers, RBIs and stolen bases.

25-year old righty starting pitcher Ian Kennedy looked lost with the Yankees. In parts of three years with the Yankees he pitched in 14 games (12 starts) in which he was 1-4 with a 6.03 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. To me he appeared to be nervous every time he was on the mound in NY. But he has been solid for the Diamondbacks since coming over in the big trade with the Tigers and Yankees over the winter. Kennedy has started 30 games for the D-Backs this year and he is 9-9 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He has given up only 155 hits in 185 innings for the D-Backs while whiffing 161 batters which are pretty impressive numbers. But, he will need to tighten his control a little bit as he has walked 66 batters this year and that’s way too many.

The Diamondbacks have learned to live with the whiffs when 25-year old righty swinging 3B Mark Reynolds is concerned. But this season has been hard to watch for the team. Reynolds has played in 136 games for the D-Backs this year and he is 97 of 473 (.205 avg, .776 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 32 homers, 84 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. He has also whiffed a stunning 197 times this season often looking helpless at the dish. Reynolds has now played in 554 games in his first four years with the D-Backs and he is 478 of 1,956 (.244 avg, .823 OPS) with 322 runs scored, 121 homers, 345 RBIs and 42 stolen bases. The Diamondbacks need Reynolds to rebound in 2011.

The D-Backs have designated 25-year old starter/reliever Cesar Valdez for assignment. Valdez pitched in 9 games (2 starts) for the Diamondbacks this year and he was 1-2 with a 7.65 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP. He also pitched in 20 games (18 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he was 6-10 with a 5.90 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. This is not much of a loss for the D-Backs as they have a lot of young pitchers they like better than Valdez.

23-year old righty starting pitcher Daniel Hudson has been outstanding for the Arizona Diamondbacks since coming over from the White Sox in the Edwin Jackson trade. Hudson has started 8 games for the D-Backs this year and he is 5-1 with a 1.91 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. He has only given up 42 hits in 56 2/3 innings for the D-Backs while whiffing 51 batters. Hudson has been pounding the strike zone with 11 walks as his stuff has been electric. Hudson is looking like a top of the rotation starting pitcher for the D-Backs in the future.